April brings more than just showers. It brings tax return time and baseball season. It used to bring daylight savings time. And even though daylight savings time has already robbed us of an hour (which it promises to give us back in the fall), April still brings an end to human hibernation.

I do not know whether it is because the weather is still cold in March or because the sun still does not stay out quite long enough but people seem to still be in hibernation during March. Not many folks have mowed their lawns yet and it is still pretty cold to do other yard work. Even if it is a good time to get those weeds out according to my wife. There are those who barbeque during all months of the year but the hibernators still need to buy propane or briquettes in March. When the barbeques are grilling all over the neighborhood, and the lawn mowers are out on most weekends, I will know that spring is about to be sprung and that the season of hibernation is officially over.

April is a wondrous month, not only because of the showers, my brother’s and wife’s birthdays, and Easter (most years). It is a time to renew our over-the-fence relationships and catch up on what has been happening in everybody’s lives since we said goodbye last fall when everybody was storing their lawnmowers, rakes, and shovels deep in their garages. April is the time for the sun to start rising before everybody gets to work and set long enough after they get home so that they can play catch or sit on the porch. April is that glorious month when winter really ends (usually) and spring is actually upon us.

April is a great time to catch up on what our neighbors have been doing while we all were holed up in our houses for the many storms of the winter. We can find out what movies they watched when the power was actually on and what forms of entertainment they had when the power was not. We can find out who left a job and who found one. Yes, we can find out all those things during the winter too, but it is so much more fun to follow the smell of the barbequed ribs until we hit the fence and can just chat with whatever neighbors we find on the other side.

Even though daylight savings time has already arrived, I think that April is the alarm clock for all of us to come out of our hibernation. We get to bring out the barbeques and lawn mowers and shovels and rakes. We get to shed our heavy coats and put on our t-shirts and holey jeans so we can work in the yard. And we get to catch up with our neighbors while leaning over the fence and smelling their barbequed ribs and burgers.